


Emmanuel's Sweaters

by violue



Series: Novak Quadruplets [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Librarian Dean, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 08:30:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6510592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violue/pseuds/violue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Dean heard this charming story from a quadruplet whom he thought was Emmanuel, but actually turned out to be Castiel wearing one of Emmanuel’s sweaters, a fact he became aware of after mentioning to “Emmanuel” just how much he liked the youngest and most enigmatic of the quadruplets."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emmanuel's Sweaters

**Author's Note:**

> This expands upon ficlet #2 (Names to Pay A Debt).
> 
>  ~~Unbeta'd~~ Beta'd by [Kris](http://kelisab.tumblr.com).

Dean's shelving some books on quilting, thinking idly about Castiel, when he spies Emmanuel sitting at one of the tables. He smiles to himself. Break time.

All four Novak brothers have been by the library over the past few weeks, but Emmanuel comes by the most. He usually spends a few hours reading, taking notes, and drinking home-brewed tea from a library-approved container. He teaches an expensive-ass meditation seminar on weekends, but his weekdays seem pretty wide open, and the man loves to read.

Dean still has trouble telling the brothers apart, but he knows this is Emmanuel. There are little things he's picked up on so far. He’s getting better about knowing who he’s talking to.

Their voices help. Jimmy and Lucifer both have mild, pleasant voices, but Emmanuel and Castiel both sound like they gargle with rocks instead of mouthwash, so even when Dean’s a little unsure, their voice helps with the process of elimination.

Dean’s noticed Emmanuel wears a lot of sweaters. The guy’s been in the library about twenty times since the Novaks moved to Lawrence, and he’s shown up in many different sweaters. Cashmere, wool, cotton… the guy loves him some sweaters. If Emmanuel is still wearing sweaters when summer rolls around, Dean won't be surprised at all. Emmanuel is the friendliest of the brothers, temperate and amiable and always willing to chat with Dean.

Lucifer is pretty easy to spot. He's the asshole in business casual that checks out shit like Drumpf’s The Art of the Deal just to be “funny”. He's always rude, particularly that time Dean told him he needed a valid ID to set up a library account.

Jimmy, as far as Dean can tell, has only been by once. Amelia helped him set up his account, and they spent the entire time flirting, which was wild because Dean's _never_ seen Amelia flirt, and she’s been working here for years. Jimmy also took a moment to tell Dean that he'd heard about Lucifer's conduct at The Roadhouse, and he apologized for his brother’s behavior. He definitely had the long-suffering older brother vibe down when he talked about Lucifer. He seems nice. A little dull, but nice.

Castiel, though… Castiel is Dean's favorite. There's a _spark_ there. Dean really likes that spark, likes the way his heart beats faster when Castiel’s eyes linger on his a little too long. Castiel has been in five times, always looking deliciously rumpled and unshaven. The first two times he’d just checked out his books on bees and went, but the third time he actually stuck around to chat with Dean. He'd taken his hoodie off partway through their debate on the superior Star Trek captain, and that was the first time Dean got an eyeful of Castiel's gorgeous ink. Dean had struggled to keep it together while staring at the way both of Castiel’s arms were covered in talismans, symbols, and quotes from every faith on the globe. He’s sure Castiel caught him staring, Dean wasn’t subtle about it.

Dean really wants to see more of Castiel, but he has no idea if Castiel would want to go on a date, _or_ if he's single, _or_ if he even dates guys. Today, though… today seems like a good day to try to find out.

Emmanuel is wearing a pale blue sweater with two bunnies in suits kissing under a rainbow, and the words “Love is Love” underneath in fancy white lettering. Dean's seen the sweater a few times, he admires Emmanuel for wearing it. Lawrence isn't the Homophobia Capital of America or anything, but that sweater sure makes a statement that plenty of people wouldn’t be caught making.

Dean decides that Emmanuel wearing _that_ sweater on a day when Dean has been thinking a lot about Castiel is a sign. A flimsy sign, maybe, but a sign.

“Love the sweater,” Dean says, sitting across from Emmanuel at his table.

Emmanuel smooths a hand over the soft fabric, smiling. “Yes, I rather like it too.”

“No tea today?”

Emmanuel looks confused at first, then shakes his head. “We're out, I believe. Jimmy is going grocery shopping tonight, he’ll get more for the house.”

“It’s weird, you know. No offense, but Jimmy got sort of the average-joe-style name, and the rest of you…”

“You don’t like my name?” Emmanuel says, looking mildly affronted. Off to a great start.

“I do!” Dean insists, “I just, uh… I mean everyone else’s names all seem so much more biblical, and it would suck to be called _Lucifer_.”

Emmanuel grins. “I’d say he got the short end of the stick, yes. However, James is a biblical name just like Emmanuel and Lucifer.”

“I gotta ask, why’d your folks go with Lucifer? Is it really a family name?”

“It’s an interesting story, actually.”

Emmanuel goes into the story of how he and his brothers got their names, how his deadbeat dad Marv “paid” his debts with a promise of namesakes, and how he never expected to have quadruplets, but at least the people he owed the most to all got what was promised. James Patrick Novak was named for their uncle Michael’s dead son, Lucifer Nicholas Novak after _Uncle Lucifer_ , and then…

“Raphael was Father’s old business partner, I’d say he was also the person owed the most money by my father. My father is fortunate he didn’t end up sued, or with his knees broken. It was quite a large sum. Raphael chose the name Emmanuel Allen Novak on behalf of his father, Emmanuel Allen, who had died the year we were born. Raphael wasn’t planning on having children of his own, I think it brought him peace to be able to pass on his father’s name.”

“It’s a good name,” Dean says, trying to make sure Emmanuel doesn’t still think Dean _actually_ dislikes his name.

“I think so too,” Emmanuel says. “And then of course Castiel Mikhail Novak. Uncle Gabriel picked that one. He read about Castiel being the angel of Thursdays in some book, I believe… and since we were all born on a Thursday…”

“And Mikhail?”

“Mikhail is the name of our great-great uncle, best remembered in my family for the way he died.”

“Was he like… a war hero?”

Emmanuel shakes his head, smiling fondly. “Mikhail lived in Kursk, Russia, and he jumped off the water tower there, thinking he could fly. He was an avid opium enthusiast. He broke his neck.”

“Are you serious?”

“Oh yes, that story has been told at many gatherings.”

“And Gabriel named a _baby_ for that?”

“I assume he thought it would be funny. That’s just the sort of person Gabriel is.”

Dean shakes his head. “You’ve got some wild uncles, man.”

“Very.”

Dean realizes he’s been ignoring his job for several minutes now, and hasn’t even asked what he wanted to ask. “So, uh… I was hoping I could ask you something. It's kind of awkward.”

“Hmm. Lucky for you, I have not yet met my quota for awkwardness today,” Emmanuel says. He's cheeky today.

“What's your brother's… deal?”

“His deal?”

“Yeah, uh... romance wise. Is he seeing anyone?”

“Do you mean Jimmy?”

“What? No, not Jimmy.”

“Lucifer?”

Dean grimaces. “ _God,_ no.”

“Oh, so then—”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I know he's open to dating, is there someone you wanted to… set him up with?”

“Uh… yeah. Me.” Emmanuel actually looks disappointed, and Dean's going to try not to be insulted by that reaction. He's pretty sure Emmanuel is straight, but he's _got_ to be supportive of same sex relationships, right? It's on his damn sweater. “Unless he doesn't date guys,” Dean mutters awkwardly.

“Oh, no it's not... I think he had a boyfriend in college. He's very open minded. I just hadn't realized you two had ah… been connecting.”

“Well _I’ve_ been connecting. No idea if he has. Guy's kinda hard to read sometimes, you know?”

Emmanuel's eyebrows rise. “No, that has not been my experience with him, actually.”

“Well... you guys shared a womb, he's probably an open book to you.”

“I suppose that’s true…”

“Has he ever said anything? About me?”

Emmanuel drums his fingers on the table, thinking. “He has said that you are very friendly. And funny.”

“Friendly and funny… that's better than nothing, I guess,” Dean says. Emmanuel looks pretty… bummed? Annoyed? Dean’s probably making this weird. “Is this too weird? Sorry, it's just... I've been thinking about him... and you show up in your _gayest_ sweater… I took it as a sign.”

“This actually isn't my—”

“This is so embarrassing. I'm turning into a middle schooler. It's just... I like Cas a lot…”

Emmanuel blinks rapidly, mouth opening and closing a few times. “You... like Cas a lot.”

“What, me talking about him like a doe-eyed teen didn't make it obvious? Yeah, I like him a lot... there's just... he’s interesting, and he’s… I feel a spark, you know?”

Emmanuel nods, smiling. “Yes, I think I do. So, you were hoping I would tell him that you like him?”

“ _No._ No, I just wanted to know if he'd be open to it. _Then_ I’d figure out if I should make a move or not. I'm… I don’t know... shy, I guess."

“ _You're_ shy?”

“Uh, sometimes… romantically…”

“Didn't you try to pick up Lucifer in a bar?”

Dean groans. “Okay first of all, I'm trying to pretend that never happened. Second of all... that was an attempt at a bar hookup, not something romantic. I actually want to _date_ Cas, so yeah, I’m feeling a bit shy about it.”

“You want to date... him?”

“Yeah. But if you don't think he'd be into it…”

“He would,” Emmanuel says emphatically. “I'm certain. He can be a bit oblivious at times, but if you were to tell him how you feel, I am confident you would get a favorable result.”

Dean wants to, he really wants to. He hasn’t been so interested in someone in a long time. “How sure are you?”

“One hundred percent sure.” Emmanuel pushes one of the sleeves of his sweater up, revealing the edges of… oh God, _Castiel’s_ Ganesh tattoo. Dean had spent five damn minutes mesmerized by the way Ganesh’s trunk curled around Castiel’s wrist the first time he saw it. He quickly goes back over their conversation, noting the places where he probably should have paid more attention. Damn. _Damn._

“Cas,” Dean groans, putting his face in his hands.

“Yes, Dean?”

“You, uh… you shaved.”

“I did. I have been known to shave.”

“And, that’s not your sweater.”

“No, it’s not.” Dean can hear the smile in Castiel’s voice, which normally would have him feeling giddy, but right now he’s so embarrassed he could die. “Are you sure we have a spark, Dean? You apparently thought I was _Emmanuel_ , after all.”

Dean slams his head down on the table. It hurts. “I didn’t… I was _distracted,_ alright?”

“By all your thoughts of me?”

Oh, fuck, why can’t a giant sinkhole open up underneath the library and end this nightmare? “ _Cas…_ ”

“Hey,” Castiel says, poking the top of Dean’s head. “I like you a lot too, Dean.”

Dean lifts his head enough to look at Castiel. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Dean smiles up at him. “Cool.”

Castiel rests his elbows on the table, chin in his hands as he smiles back at Dean. “I think so too.”

 


End file.
